Keeping Busy

The Hemet Xmas parade has a local flavour. Not many big floats, lot of small groups, bands and military marchers. 

I thought this was cute.

Sooner or later we would need to drive into L.A. so a day trip to Long Beach seemed a good start. Our RV Park is somewhere between those two hills in the background. That's Lake Elsinore in the valley. 

You certainly expect to see beach volleyball along the California coast. We made it to Long Beach; so far so good. 

I didn't realize that Long Beach was a large oil producing area. At one time the whole beach was covered with oil derricks for miles. They're all gone now but artificial islands have been built in the harbour where oil is still pumped and sent to the refineries by underwater pipes. Certainly looks nice doesn't it. 

This is the Long Beach Pier. I always wanted to see the "Spruce Goose", Howard Hughes giant transport built during the second world war. It was located here for years but went to Oregon a few years ago. An excuse to go back to Oregon I guess. 

Lunch at the pier was great. Sunny and tasty. After leaving, we drove past Disneyland on our way home. Maybe we'll go back for a visit now that we know where it is. L.A. isn't quite as scary now.

Christmas dinner in the park helps get us in the Xmas mood, as well as forcing us to over eat.

Then a few days later, we took a bus tour to Huntington Beach to see Xmas lights. The first stop was more food. A great Italian restaurant and again, more over eating. Do you notice a trend here? 

The difference on this light viewing expedition is we're going to view houses along the canals by boat. That should be fun. 

The homes along the canals in Huntington Beach are mansions and most were beautifully decorated. A lot had yachts parked out front and some of them were decorated as well. 

I took dozens of pictures, but because it was dark, the boats was moving and I didn't have a tripod, most of the pictures were too blurry to keep. But, a few weren't bad.

It was a bit cool on the water but we had been warned to dress warm and enjoyed the evening. These were definitely some of the best decorated homes we've ever seen. A great way to get in the Xmas mood down here where there's no snow or family to help build the spirit.

To help pass the time until Xmas I have been forced to even go golfing. Now, that's not me driving, I have much better form but, if you can enlarge this enough, you'll notice my ball, right at the foot of the flag. No kidding. A few more feet could have been a hole in one. Weird photo, huh. But, that was my best shot of the day and I should have quit there; it went downhill quickly. 

This is my shot. You have to admit I've got style.

It was a lovely course and I enjoyed the views much more than my golfing. If you have to kill time, this is a great way to do it. I'm golfing a couple times a week; you'd think I'd get better. But bad golf down here still beats shoveling snow (That's the snowbird refrain). Hope you have a great Xmas. TTFN.